According to the gemara (Megilla 29b, S"A O"C 685) there is a mitzvah to read the special reading of Parshat Zachor on a particular Shabbat (before Purim). This mitzvah is listed as one of the 613. I ...

The verse says (Shemos 17:13): And Yehoshua weakened Amalek and his nation in accordance with the sword.
Who did he weaken exactly - what's the difference between Amalek and his nation? Or is there a ...

The Torah says that the Amaleik came and battled Israel at Refidim.
I read somewhere:
That according to the sages, the Jews were actually attacked because they lacked unity. This is alluded to in the ...

Rashi on Devarim 1:8 says that if it weren't for the sin with the spies, we would have never needed armaments.
Bamidbar 14:25 tells us that Amalek lived in the valleys, and Devarim 25:29 states that ...

When the spies come back, all of them (aside from Yehoshua Bin Nun and Calev Ben Yefuneh) return with negative reports of the land. Among these reports is a reference to Amalek: “Amalek dwell in the ...

I remember reading once (in Sender Zeyv's novel Ten Lost), that some Jewish sources say that Amalekians don't have souls. Obviously, this might not be so reliable, coming from a work of fiction, so ...

In Samuel I 15:27 Samuel turns to leave then Saul admits guilt, asks for forgiveness, and prostrates, and then Samuel summons Agag and kills him.
It seems that had Saul not stopped Samuel, he would ...

Many years ago when I learned the story of King Shaul and Agag I recall learning that the Amalekites were master sorcerers and that the way King Agag was able to perpetuate his line was by cohabiting ...

I've always understood that the war with Amalek is an ongoing concern (and that the mitzvah to blot out Amalek's memory is ongoing), but I saw some puzzling Rashi today that seems to contradict that. ...

This may be two questions that are closely related.
Would engaging in war with 'Amalek without a specific command (a la Shaul) be a Milhemeth Mitzvah or Milhemeth Reshuth?
Is killing all of 'Amalek ...

Rashi (in parshas Chukas perek 21 pasuk 1) says that Amalek attacked the Jews, and that the pasuk calls them Canaanites because the Amaleikim had learned the Canaanite language (so the Jews would pray ...